Tre's Blog

Sometimes parenting can be difficult. Big secret, right? Then you throw in relationships, work, kid schedules, and the house. Eventually, you may find a moment for yourself. Perhaps, once in a while you have a moment to sit back and see that it is all very worth it.

I assumed I was a pro at the whole raising kid thing. Two self-sufficient kids who only needed me to provide hot meals and parental signatures for school. I was coasting through parenthood. The difficult years behind me. Then the third one came. Our entire lives changes. The home is now run by a terror who is about knee high and can be bribed with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

Parenting is always a challenge I suppose. However, when the toilet training, teething, fit taking, and all that nonsense is over, and you ship them off to their first day of school. Through the tears, you breath a huge sigh of relief. I am currently impatiently waiting that day.

Don't get me wrong, I adore all of my children. They make me a better person. I would not be a mom without them. And for each of them, I am eternally grateful. However, at about 8:30 pm each evening, I love my toddler more than I did a half hour before. Little Man is a huge ball of extremely demanding, whiny, energy. Lately, he has taken to hitting. I have no idea where this has come from. It is not as is we all greet each other by running into the room and smacking each other. Yet, the youngest member of our family does just this. He bolts in, and whacks us. If he has a toy, we get hit with that. I have to admit, it was funny at first. You see this itty bitty little boy running at your husband with a plastic golf club, and a grown man cowering in fear. I might have laughed.

He used to be so cute and dependant on us. I would hold him and carry him for hours. Now, he has the mentality of a teenager, and wants to walk ten feet ahead of us, pretending he does not hear us when we call after him. I imagine sitting in the grocery cart was somehow cramping his style, because now he acts like it burns him if we put him in it. Instead, he has to be Mr. Independant and walk through the store. Oh, he also likes to do all his own shopping. By the time we get to the checkout, we find tons of items that neither the hubby nor I put into the cart. So, we find three bottles of apple cider vinegar and four bags of chocolate chips. Sometimes, it slips by us at checkout, so we have a stock of items that we have absolutely no need for at home, and Little Man apparently has no use for since leaving the store.

We have attempted to tackle potty training. He has absolutely no use for it. He loves the bathroom and comes in when his daddy and I are in there. Yet, the child will not do the deed. Why not? I can't figure it out, but I swear the kid is going to be going to his prom in diapers because he is that stubborn. We have tried everything. I even bought him this Elmo Loves the Potty book. We read the book together and he was fully engaged. He was pressing the sound buttons, pointing to the potty, totally into it. It looked very promising. Then, we finished the book. He stood up, went to get his Hug Me Elmo, and put it on his potty.

I am hoping at some point it is going to get easier. I think it does, from what I remember. It just seems like this one is so much harder. Maybe it is because I am older this time around. Or because he is so much more moody and has a personality like his father. Either way, I have fun each day and I love bedtime. Being the mommy of a toddler is not all it is cracked up to be, but God, do I love him.